Governor's - Nevada Arts Council - Nevada Department of Cultural ...

Excellence in Folk and Traditional Arts
Doug Groves
When true artisanship takes the functional beyond necessity,
craft becomes art. Doug Groves’ braided rawhide horse gear
exemplifies this perfect marriage of beauty and utility. Groves
started making horse tack—riatas, quirts, reins, buttons, and
more—over thirty years ago. Once the cow boss on the TS
Ranch outside of Battle Mountain, Nevada, Groves now lives
and works in Wellington. He learned from his peers and passes
on techniques and tricks to others in the traditional manner of
cowboys.
“There’s a genealogy behind learning all this stuff. When you’re
sitting around the bunkhouse, and somebody is teaching you
how to tie a particular button or something, you’ll get to visiting
and you’ll say, ‘Well, where did you learn that?’ And they’ll say,
‘Well, Roger Fischer taught me that when we worked at the 25
together.’ You learn it from this guy, from that guy, and knowing
where it came from is like having a quilt your Grandma made, it
means something to you.”
Groves’ work is finely detailed, meticulously executed, beautiful
and functional. He carefully prepares his own rawhide and
creates each piece with incredible attention to detail, choosing
and preparing his rawhide string with care to create the tight,
straight and even braiding that characterizes his work. His pieces
are equally sought after by collectors and cowboys, a compliment
to both the artistry and functionality of his work.
Generous in sharing his expertise with others, Groves
demonstrates extraordinary commitment to preserving the
tradition of rawhide braiding. A master artist in the Nevada
Arts Council Folklife Apprenticeship program, he leads Rawhide
Braiding workshops nearly every year at the National Cowboy
Poetry Gathering.
Groves has been featured in exhibitions across the region and
in nationally distributed publications such as Trappings of the
Great Basin Buckaroo and Works and Conversation. Groves
created From Hide to Hackamore: “Rawhide Braiding Techniques
and Traditions,” an educational slide presentation describing
his traditional work, which he has presented to audiences
throughout the state. Doug Groves holds an abiding respect for
the traditional arts of the Nevada cowboy and carries on these
traditions with humor, humility, and an obvious love of his trade.